


Of Rain and Solitude

by Risukage



Series: Estimeric Week: Shenanigans in Seven Parts [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Fluff, Love Confessions, M/M, Pre-Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward, Romantic Fluff, Secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-08-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:47:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25856896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Risukage/pseuds/Risukage
Summary: This week we celebrate one of our favorite Heavensward pairings with Aymeric and Estinien. Hell yeah!! With one prompt a day, you all get seven little one-shots that range from fluffy sweet to super spicy! Enjoy your meal. ;)Day 3 Prompt: Secrets
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Estinien Wyrmblood
Series: Estimeric Week: Shenanigans in Seven Parts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1873489
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31
Collections: Estimeric Week 2020





	Of Rain and Solitude

**Author's Note:**

> //Keeping in the same canon/timeline as the previous two, we go back to their Temple Knight days, where they have a bit of down time after a mission. Aymeric is feeling chatty, Estinien is having none of it, and Aymeric isn't having any of _that_. :)//

Rain came down heavily on the top of the tent that the two knights shared, and one of them sighed with satisfaction, while the other sighed in irritation. Pulling his chain shirt off over his head, the first knight glanced at the second. "Oh? Does the weather bother you?" He ruffled his own dark hair with his hand, shaking out a few droplets that had gathered, as they had barely got the tent up in time before the downpour had started. 

Chin in his hand and elbow on his knee, the other knight glared out the tent flaps at the weather on the other side. "It's a bothersome mess. Turns the roads into mud and soaks into everything."

Laughing softly, the first knight next removed the shirt under his armor, gasping softly at the cooler air against his skin, as he had sweated a little into the shirt from their exertions. "Is there anything that doesn't bother you, Estinien?" he teased, flicking his shirt at his companion, only getting side-eye for his trouble. "True, it does make a mess of some things, but the rain is what gives us flowers and life, and the food we eat. It pushes back the noises of the world and creates a little space of solitude. Further, it does sound romantic to sit beside a fire with someone you care about and share a meal or a drink while rain dances upon the window panes."

With a loud snort of amusement, Estinien began removing his own chainmail shirt. "You are such a fucking romantic, Aymeric, how do you manage to be a decent knight with your head in the clouds like that?"

"Do you want to know?" was the reply, and Estinien paused with his armor half-off to see Aymeric smiling at him, a finger to his own lips, looking very amused. Considering it, Estinien shrugged. "Well, it's a secret!"

"Then keep your secrets," Estinien huffed, his words somewhat muffled as he tugged off his shirt, and gave Aymeric another strange look when he laughed again.

"Oh come now! You are the least inquisitive man I have ever met!"

"Why should I want to know your secrets?"

Looking surprised, Aymeric paused as he set aside one of his sabatons, then began to undo the other. "You mean you don't want to?"

"I mean it's none of my damn business," Estinien said without any heat, tending to his own gear, "you said it's a secret, so it's something you want kept hidden, so I'm being polite and not bothering you about it."

"...Perhaps I want to be bothered about it?"

Perplexed, Estinien stopped halfway through undoing his second sabaton, and looked over at Aymeric, who had his arms around his legs and his cheek on his knees, looking back at him with curiosity. "What... Augh! Speak plainly!" Exhaling sharply through his nose, he tossed the undone armor aside and began to work on his trousers.

"...Apologies, I did not mean to offend."

With a deep, frustrated groan, Estinien flopped onto his back. "You- Oh fuck's sake. You haven't offended. Look." He sat up, sitting cross-legged on his bedroll. "You said it's a secret. So you don't want someone to know about it. But you also said you want to be asked about it. So which is it?"

A blush rose in Aymeric's cheeks as he looked away. "I...had hoped to share something with you."

There was a very loud silence between them for a moment before Aymeric cleared his throat, embarrassed, and sat up on his knees to remove his own trousers, avoiding eye contact with his companion.

"...You want to share something personal with me. Why?"

There was no heat or malice in it, just honest, confused curiosity, and Aymeric paused once more in undressing. "To better deepen our bond. I value our friendship, whatever it is, and...because I like you. I feel closer to you than any other that I have met." His lips turned up at the corners as something amused him for a moment. "Well, there is another, but I like him for different reasons and in a different way. I had simply hoped that..." He realized where this verbal train of thought was going and went silent, finally getting the last of his armor off, and setting it all up to air out and dry. Now sitting in just his smalls, he rubbed his arms, though the lack of prickling on his arms told Estinien that it wasn't from being cold. "Pay me no mind. Pray forgive my rambling."

Estinien had also discarded the last of his armor, and rolled Aymeric's words around in his mind. The silence was louder now, and he saw the set of Aymeric's shoulders, how the man obviously regretted his words and wished that he could take them back. The rain wasn't terribly heavy, but it was enough to muffle any sound in or out, which gave them the privacy enough to be candid with each other. Picking at the thin cover of his bedroll, Estinien gritted his teeth and sighed. "I...would hear this secret."

"It is alright, Estinien, you need not humor me, I-"

"Oh fuck off!" Aymeric jumped at the unexpected profanity and looked at his companion in surprise. "I don't humor anyone, even you. I said I would hear this secret, and it's because I want to. So. Tell me."

Drawing his knees to his chest again, Aymeric rested his chin atop them, staring out at the rain. "...I want to be able to protect someone special." He recognized the silence from his companion as patient, waiting for him to continue, so he took a deep breath and forged on. "Always have I been aware of the plight of most of our city's citizens. That so many want for so many things, and it breaks my heart. I want to be a hero to them, or at the least, to one person." A little more comfortable, he smiled to himself and sat back, resting his weight on his hands behind him. "Someone who means everything to me, for whom I will do anything to see them smile and to hear them laugh. For that person I must be able to face any foe without fear and to have the strength to defeat them."

Usually Estinien would have a biting remark for this sort of sentimental sappiness, or at least a sigh, but this time, for some reason, he wanted to know. "...Have you anyone in mind?"

"...Perhaps." Rubbing his arms again, Aymeric looked away for a moment, then smiled again in that irritatingly charming way. "But that's also a secret! And since I've told you one you must tell me in return, and since you've none you wish to share, that one I shall keep to myself."

The dark-haired man looked somewhat relieved to be able to withhold this information, and Estinien sighed deeply. Not out of anger or frustration, but of one steeling himself to do something. "...Do you want to know?" he asked, echoing the other man's words from a few moments before.

Blinking with surprise, Aymeric was taken aback, which amused Estinien quite a bit; not much got that man ruffled, and here he was completely out of sorts. "...I do, yes, but I will not demand it. I respect you too much to pry into that which is none of my business."

It was Estinien's turn to pull his knees to his chest, and he gnawed at his lip for a second, almost ready to go back on his offer. "...While I seek solitude, I do not want to be alone."

He swore to himself, immediately regretting his words, and looked away as his cheeks burned hotly with embarrassment, waiting for the mocking laughter he knew would come. But it never happened, and he gasped softly to feel Aymeric sit next to him, hip against his and hand on his shoulder, not quite pulling him close, but... He felt gentle fingers on his chin, turning him toward his companion, and his pulse skipped a beat at the warm, soft smile that was definitely meant for him. Before he could question Aymeric about it, the other man leaned in, kissing him softly but firmly. It wasn't the first time, not at all, it had been a bit of a game for them, his "prize" for winning at sparring, and he won _very_ often (though it had always been earned, he could tell that the other man always fought with all of his skill), he never thought much of it. Now, this time was different. Aymeric _meant_ it. The smile slightly sad, Aymeric stroked Estinien's cheek, plainly expecting rejection and trying to make the most of the moment that he could.

Unable to meet his gaze again, Estinien fidgeted, trying to find the right words. "...We haven't a fire. And rations and a flask of water hardly count."

Aymeric's shuddering sigh of relief made Estinien's skin prickle with... _something_ , he wasn't sure what, he'd not felt that before, and the feeling deepened when he was kissed again. This time he leaned into it, albeit stiffly, not quite sure what to do with himself or his thoughts at the moment, feeling Aymeric's hand tighten on his shoulder as he hugged him tighter, and his other hand gliding gently down his side to rest on Estinien's hip. "No, we only have the rain."

Heart pounding in his ears, Estinien was a little overwhelmed, not having expected any of this, but at the same time, he wasn't opposed to any of it, either. He wasn't the orator that his companion was, nor was he as verbose, but when he did deign to speak his words were always carefully chosen, and this was no exception.

"...And the rain does well to hide sound," he replied, hinting at what he could be talked into doing. Another kiss, one that left him gasping for breath, was Aymeric's answer. The other man smiled again, bright blue eyes filled with relief and happiness, and Estinien was glad that he was sitting because his legs wouldn't be able to support him after that.

"This shall be _our_ secret." Estinien felt his stomach tie up in knots. That smile, it was so honest and delighted and...it belonged only to him. The knots undid themselves, and as they did so a laugh bubbled up, one he couldn't hold back, and he saw tears of relief in the other man's eyes. "I know that you need no protecting, yet I will always strive to be a hero to you."

It was silly and sappy and sentimental and...and...Estinien couldn't help but smile. He offered no resistance when Aymeric kissed him again, pressing him to the bedroll, or when the other man's hands began to explore his body. For now, for just a little while, in this space of solitude, he could take off his armor, and for once, just for a little while, not be alone.

**Author's Note:**

> //If for whatever reason you think I'm interesting, I am the [Random Squirrel](http://randomsquirrel.tumblr.com) on Tumblr and [L33t Squirrel](https://twitter.com/L33tSquirrel) on Twitter. Contains reblogs of things I think are interesting and random acts of shitposting.
> 
> And if you want even more intersting (and often better!) stuff, and enjoy both reading and writing fanfiction, come join us over at [Emet Selch's Wholesomely Debauched & Enabling Book Club](https://discord.gg/enabling-debauched-xivfic). We're mostly focused on FFXIV but we have writers and readers from many fandoms and are there to not only read and write some great stuff, but hype each other up to do so, because darn it, fanfiction just doesn't get the love that it deserves! And be sure to leave kudos and comments for the people you read, too! Writers need that validation to keep making delicious, free content, all they ask to be paid in is your adoration. ;)//


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